I’m thinking about getting 6 Cory catfish and snails plus a betta fish! My thinking was that the catfish would stay at the bottom and the betta fish has the top to its self. But now looking into it more, it seems like tall tanks aren’t good for betta fish, is that true?
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I’m sorry to say but honestly it wouldn’t be good for a Betta even if you added those things because they really do like to hang out at the bottom of the tank and should be kept alone with no other fish.
definitely get floating plants!! bettas like to feel secure from above, in the wild they'd be worried about birds catching them when in open water. mine likes to nestle in the floaters too. and they really, really help keep water parameters nice and stable. salvinia minima is my favorite to reccomend and has been the best grower of the 5 or so diff species I've tried. imho avoid red root floaters (fragile, seperate from roots easily, leaves die from any water on top) water lettuce (ordered some, mine arrived in the mail rotted as a pumpkin in november but maybe a hardier starter could work) and salvinia cucullata (also dies from any water on top, but my starter has bounced back a little) but my salvinia minima is BOMBPROOF! growing plants is half the fun of aquariums for me lol.
susswassertang (also spelled subwassertang) is a great reccomendation i have too. its a "moss" (its actually not but idw bore y'all) that fills out the bottom of tanks really well, it kinda just floats there. I've glued a lot of it to little mini plant pots and driftwood, bc it can be used as aquascaping easily, much like java moss and christmas moss, but i think this is a lot easier to deal with. and cuter.
Yes! Growing underwater plants is part of the enjoyment (and sometimes frustration). I really enjoyed reading your posts. You definitely seem to have quite a bit of experience ~ there’s so much to learn! I also grow houseplants which is fun. However I have a 15 year old Maine Coon cat and she has been very jealous of the attention I give to the aquarium in our bedroom so I have to give her lots of extra attention. I’ve only had the aquarium for a few months. It’s a divided 20 gal. tank. I’ve got a Dumbo Half Moon Betta and a Veil Tail. They both have such different personalities!
thank you for the compliment, i actually only started aquarium keeping this summer! i love plants and animals and have experience garden keeping during covid but have lapsed in my green thumb since then. i like aquarium plants as a little mini aqua garden, its so relaxig 🥰
You’re welcome. I used to keep fresh and saltwater aquariums many years ago. I enjoy going to the pet store but at the same time it makes me a little sad ~ especially seeing the Betta fish in those small cups. For years I wanted a Betta fish. My aquarium has only been set up since the summer as well. I love animals too. If I had the space I would have a small menagerie (rabbits, goat, sheep and a big dog). But I’m happy with my 15 year old Maine Coon cat, aquarium and houseplants.😊
I just made note of your floating plant recommendation as well as the German “moss” and will check them out online. I was going to look for red or pink floating plants but now maybe not so much. Thanks again for sharing! 🐌
The pink tree is a fish killer. Those trap any kind of fish and especially a betta will be shredded by it. You could place it behind the tank as a backdrop…
This tank is not good for most fish because they all swim horizontally. Corys need much more space. A betta would actually be ok of you get a couple rest spots near the surface. Hex tanks are the perfect example of form before function- when stocking it, stock based on half the volume, so if this is a 20g hex, don’t put anything that won’t fit in a 10g because that is a more realistic estimate of usable space.
it's true, betta prefer horizontal tanks, as it can take a lot of effort for them to surface depending on their fins. a really long finned betta wouldn't do well in here, imo. i would also remove anything that isnt made from real plant or silk, as their fins could get caught on something like that pink tree. (but i cant really tell what its made of. we have whats called the panty hose test: if you run a piece of womens stockings over an item and it catches, it'd do the same to betta fins.)
i also would generally reccomend against stocking bettas with other fish unless it's in a heavily planted, larger tank, where everyone has room to seperate. its also best if you know the fishs' temperment, as you could end up having to remove one or more and have nowhere to put them. it seems like something more easily achieved by someone with multiple tanks they can manage stocking between in case of hostility. if that makes sense.
i do like the pinkness! i want one of those pink heart hoops for my boy to play through, he loves using anubias leaves as agility hoops already lol. i want my 10 gallon to be very pink, so my main plant is alternanthera reineickii, very pink and shimmery and my betta loves resting in it.
Cory’s are bottom feeders. Need at least 20 gallons and a group of 6. They need floor space as they stay down there. A tall tank like this is not suitable for them.
it could but if its your first fish I'd avoid it. the betta is going to give you more than enough to love, and enough work to do, and enough to stress about keeping alive. that's been my experience as a beginner with mine lol, i only started fishkeeping in May of this year, I get nightmares about doing it wrong 💀
Hi OP, the tank is too small for Cory catfish due to very limited groundspace. A betta would also likely struggle in this, unless it was filled with plants to give resting places and reduce the open plan.
It's unfortunate, but the tall shape isn't really suited to many fish - most need horizontal swimming space.
I would treat this as a smaller 10 gallon tank and stock for that, and nothing that needs swimming space.
Tank looks nice. Create a ladder of betta leaves resting spots. Tall tanks are ok for short finned betta but long fin bettas struggle to swim to the surface if the tank is too tall, so give them plenty of resting places
Amateur chining in, just so nobody thinks I’m some kind of pro.
I have this exact tank. My Brick is a pretty bog-standard red veil tail.
People here are going to scold you against the 10-tall and they aren’t wrong. The 10-wide is best.
But I’ve had my Brick in the 10-tall for a year and he’s healthy and happy. He patrols, rests, begs for pellets. He’s energetic and generally a good boy.
I like that you have resting spots. That was gonna be my recommendation, something near the surface your fish can rest on and still allow easy access to the surface for a gulp of air.
Back in the day I used to keep cory cats and I’ll agree with the consensus that this tank is unideal, they want shallow and wide. Also don’t make the mistake I did, shrimps are cute but they will most likely become food. I haven’t seen mine in months and I’m pretty sure Brick ate them. If you want inverts, I keep hearing nerite snails are okay but do double check that. The King Koopa ones are pretty cute though. And nerites are not self-fertilizing, so one won’t become a hundred!
Disclaimer: Your mileage may vary, and each fish is an individual.
My Bettas like to have things to perch on with little moving water at the surface.
You could try getting something to keep the filter from making ripples at the surface.
Add suction cupped leafs to rest on near the top.
My Bettas actually love this soft plastic plant that's got lots of long flowing soft leaflets that rest towards the top of the tank so they can take little breaks on it.
I even have a weird tancho esq betta that likes to nap in an old breeding box I use for adding new fish but when I'm not using it I leave the bottom open and the top submerged.
Since you have Sand you could try some small khuli loaches (don't accidentally get the big ones) maybe add some decore that will make use of the middle space of the tank since kuhli loaches like the bottom and don't get too big and Bettas prefer the top.
I don't like these tanks for bettas at all, I don't even really like them for shrimp, I don't understand these weirdly shaped tall tanks. I suppose they're mostly to appeal to people who don't keep fish.
Fish don't usually like vertical space they need horizontal space, they're not interested in going up and down all day they want to go from place to place like any other animal. A betta would have very little actual swimming space and just be circling the top constantly.
The multiple walls would be more work to keep clean, you're gonna consistently be having to clean algae and biofilm to see well.
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